Brands Hatch Test Day

by Racing Aspirations on November 9, 2012

An interesting days testing yesterday. I got 65 laps in and managed a 55.7 second lap in the second session. I had six sessions, two and three being the best. After that the lap times got worse until eventually the left front stub axle came loose. Probably explains why my lap times were slow getting worse!

The car has some hesitation on turn-in. It is quite difficult to place it without having to turn the wheel a few times and because of the hesitation hitting the apex can prove difficult leading to understeer when exiting. Maybe some more caster would help?

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Comments (4)
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Huw February 6, 2013 at 8:02 am

Hi Will,

I started with minimal caster and have been slowly increasing it over the last couple of outings. the car used to turn-in very well before the accident and currently the turn-in is only hesitant at high speeds so I’m wondering is it either the new body doesn’t produce as much downforce at the front or is there some flex in the chassis. I tried adjusting the toe both ways but it only seemed to slow me down although my best session was with a slight increase in toe from neutral.

Regards,
Huw
Will February 5, 2013 at 10:10 pm

Huw
How much caster are you using at the moment? Castor is helpful in generating some extra grip in very low speed corners but its main function is felt in keeping the car stable at speed, so I don’t think you need more. In fact it sounds as though it doesn’t want to change direction!
As a comparison, my 750 car has about 1.5 degrees caster and it has pin-sharp turn-in.
What toe settings are you using? Varying the toe can make a big difference to turn-in.
Hope that helps.
Will
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Huw November 16, 2012 at 2:37 pm

Hi Tony, no comments from any drivers but someone from the BTCC team said it was nice to see a driver working on their own car. Fingers crossed…
tony brazier November 14, 2012 at 12:42 am

looks like a good days testing, any comments from the drivers you over took. hopefully a better season next year

Tony